Safety needle assemblies are known in the prior art. With many of these assemblies, a shield is provided which covers a needle so as to restrict access thereto. However, the shield may have an open end through which access may still be obtained to a used needle, even with the shield in a protective state.
In addition, many safety needle assemblies seek to continuously shield a needle before, during and after use. Thus, the shield is provided in a covered, shielded position both before and after use. It may be difficult to discern if a needle assembly has been used considering that the safety needle assembly looks the same before and after use.